A's prepare to be without injured Josh Reddick

BALTIMORE -- The A's lost a game, a series and a right fielder Sunday, and it's not clear which of those was the worst news for Oakland.

It's possible that a long-term loss of Josh Reddick to the disabled list will outweigh the immediate impact of the 10-3 loss to Baltimore and the Orioles taking two of three over the weekend.

Reddick had to come out of the game after reinjuring his right wrist while striking out to end the top of the sixth inning.

"I'm not going to assume that the (disabled list) is the case," Reddick said as he and the A's prepared to fly to Detroit to open a four-game set with the Tigers. "I'd say it's maybe 50-50 at this point."

Baltimore Orioles' Chris Davis (19) slides into third safely on a single by Adam Jones against Oakland Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson, right, during the first inning of a baseball game on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
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Nick Wass
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The A's aren't taking any chances. They immediately pulled first baseman Daric Barton, hitting .297 for Triple-A Sacramento, from the River Cats' game in Colorado Springs. Barton is expected to be in Detroit on Monday, whether or not Reddick goes on the D.L. If Reddick is out, then Brandon Moss would take over in right field and Barton would platoon at first base with Nate Freiman.

It was just Wednesday that Reddick had both an MRI and an X-ray of the wrist, which has been a problem since the second week of the season when he slid into a wall in Houston in pursuit of a foul fly.

Reddick aggravated the injury on defense Wednesday, but he passed the medical exam, was able to swing without pain and, after sitting out Friday, started both Saturday and Sunday.

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He said he felt his wrist go again while swinging at a 2-0 pitch against T.J. McFarland. He said he "wanted to finish my at-bat," but after striking out he had to "submit to" the injury.

When he'll be able to start again is an open question. He hasn't had a good season, with a .213 average, 10 home runs and 46 RBIs, but he plays great defense and has offensive potential if last year's team-leading 32 homers and 85 RBIs mean anything.

"I'm not going to be stupid about this," Reddick said about playing through another wrist injury. He tried that earlier in the year, and it didn't work.

Things didn't work Sunday for A's rookie starter Sonny Gray, either. With some family and friends in from Nashville, Tenn., he was out of the game by the fourth inning having allowed as many base runners as he had gotten outs (10 of each).

Not all of the hits off him were hit hard; most of them were not. But the Orioles put on the pressure by scoring twice in the first inning, three times in the second and adding a run in the fourth to chase Gray.

"They had some dinks and dunks," Gray said. "I thought I made some good pitches, and they put the ball in the right shot, and they found some holes."

The A's didn't support Gray particularly well. They scored one run in the first despite getting Orioles starter Scott Feldman to throw 29 pitches, then didn't score again until Josh Donaldson's two-run homer in the eighth.

Still, the A's news wasn't all bad. Texas lost in Chicago to the White Sox, so the A's deficit to the Rangers in the American League West remained at 2½ games. And back-to-back losses may mean the Rangers are cooling down some.

But unless the A's, 16-18 since the All-Star break, pick it up, what the Rangers do won't make a difference.

Manager Bob Melvin gave left fielder Yoenis Cespedes a day off Sunday after Cespedes had hit just .154 with 10 strikeouts in his previous six games. Asked if a day off could help, Cespedes said through interpreter Ariel Prieto, "It can be. It depends on what happens. I'm still feeling good (at the plate)."

For the second straight day while facing right-handed starting pitching, right-handed hitting catcher Kurt Suzuki was behind the plate for the A's, while left-handed hitter Stephen Vogt got the day off. Melvin said that isn't necessarily a sign of times to come. "This doesn't mean that we're going in a different direction," Melvin said, adding Vogt would be in the lineup Monday in Detroit.